Communicating and Engaging with Science Minor

As a major land-grant university, it is our obligation to offer a compilation of courses that teach students how to communicate and engage with science, how to understand scientific information that is communicated in various ways, and to ask informed questions and generate their own ideas about scientific topics. The Communicating and Engaging with Science minor offers a set of courses open to all undergraduate VT students that fulfills this need in an intentional way.

What is it?

The Communicating and Engaging with Science minor exposes STEM-based students to concepts and practices of effective communication, and it gives students in non-STEM majors a comprehensive group of quantitative courses in the context of science communication. Students in this minor will benefit from programs hosted by the VT Center for Communicating Science that until now had been reserved for graduate students.

Why do it?

For STEM majors, these skills are valuable for the workplace or graduate school. For all students, they are essential for navigating life. To make informed decisions about health, politics, finances, and more, VT students must critically interpret the scientific information they encounter daily. This includes identifying and avoiding misinformation or misinterpretations of scientific findings.

Requirements

The 18-hour minor in Communicating and Engaging with Science includes two foundational tracks. Track A is intended for Non-STEM majors and Track B is intended for STEM majors. Each track includes two introductory 3-hour courses. All students in the minor will then take a similar path of 6 hours of required mid-level Pathways courses and 3 hours of restricted electives, and 3 advanced hours of a capstone course.

Who is it for?

This minor is intended for all students, regardless of discipline. Upon completion of this minor, students will be well equipped to engage in communication and thought about scientific topics, regardless of their primary discipline. They will be able to critically evaluate scientific information, ask thoughtful questions, identify and debunk misinformation or misinterpretation of scientific findings, and apply science to their daily lives.

This minor is hosted by the Academy of Transdisciplinary Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in collaboration with numerous departments across Virginia Tech.